Hummingbot alternative
Hummingbot in brief
Hummingbot is an open-source framework for market-making and arbitrage bots. You run it on your own machine or server, configure strategies and connectors, and manage the keys and API credentials it trades with.
How Circuit differs
Circuit hosts and runs your agents, so there is no server to keep alive. Agents never hold private keys: Circuit signs outside the agent sandbox under a permit you sign with your passkey. Strategies can be written from a plain-English description, paper traded on live markets and backtested on recorded Hyperliquid and Lighter markets.
When Hummingbot fits better
Professional market makers who need exchange-specific connectors, custom infrastructure and full control of where their bots run are well served by a self-hosted framework.
Self-custodial by design
Agents run on a wallet you create in Circuit or import from Phantom, Rabby or MetaMask. Agents never see private keys: they request typed actions through Circuit's SDK, and Circuit signs outside the agent's sandbox only under a permit you sign with your passkey. Pause, resume or stop any agent at any time; stopping leaves your positions in your wallet.
Feature comparison
Hosting: Hummingbot runs on your machine; Circuit runs agents for you. Keys: Hummingbot holds the credentials you give it; Circuit agents never see keys and signing needs your passkey-signed permit. Strategy authoring: Hummingbot strategies are configured or written in Python; Circuit builds agents from a plain-English description, or developers write them with the CLI and SDK. Testing: Circuit backtests agents on recorded Hyperliquid and Lighter markets and paper trades them on live markets with venue fees and funding.
Questions to ask any agentic trading platform
Who holds the keys, and can the agent ever see them? Does every trade need your approval, or can approvals be switched off? Can you read the exact code or rules the agent runs, and test them on past and live markets before real money moves? Which markets can it reach: stocks only, one exchange, or onchain venues across networks? And can you stop it instantly without losing control of open positions?
What it costs
Circuit charges no fees today. You pay the venue's trading fees, network gas and any bridge or routing fees, and each prepared action's review shows the costs it reports before you confirm. Today's terms make no commitment about future fees.